Back in 2016, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler went down with an early-season groin injury during the last year of his contract with the team, and none other than Brian Hoyer took his place.
Believe it or not, the 31-year-old journeyman went on a four-game heater of passing for 300 or more yards, even throwing for 397 yards in a loss against the Indianapolis Colts.
When he won his second start that year against the Detroit Lions — sound familiar? — I kid you not, fans wanted to see Brian Freaking Hoyer start the rest of the season over Jay Cutler.
Then, when Hoyer got hurt against Green Bay — again, deja vu — it was third-stringer Matt Barkley taking over for Cutler to close out the year. All he did was throw for 316 yards in his first start and then win his second start over San Francisco.
You can guess what happened then: the “proud” Bears franchise started to lust over the third-string quarterback’s moxie and “it” factor, thinking they’d found their quarterback of the future.
That didn’t last: Barkley lost his next four starts, throwing 10 interceptions against just four touchdowns in the final three games, and he never played another down for the Bears after that.
When you’re in the midst of Backup QB Fever, you never stop to consider how ridiculous you look in the moment. You’re just riding the wave, accepting the chaos and reveling in the insanity because the experience is so much more fun than you thought it would be.
Then, you wake up.
That latter part hasn’t happened yet for Patriots fans in the midst of Bailey Zappe’s hostile takeover of the team with Mac Jones’ ankle still on the mend. But odds are that it will.
You were spoiled by the greatest quarterback of all time making himself so backup-proof that the team had to trade his heir-apparent, Jimmy Garoppolo. Meanwhile, you laughed at teams throwing big money at career backups like Kevin Kolb and Matt Flynn to be their quarterbacks of the future based on one or two games of production.
And now that Tom Brady is gone, you’re becoming what you made fun of in your desperation to feel what he made you feel once again.
Welcome to life for the rest of the NFL.
The funny thing is that the things Zappe is being praised for this year -- his poise under duress, his quick decision-making, accuracy, all that -- are exactly the things Jones did last season over the course of 17 games (with some ups and downs, of course).
Zappe's been good, let's not front. Throwing for 309 yards and two touchdowns with Myles Garrett trying to pounce on your every play is nothing to scoff at. But it's been good, not special just yet.
Still, a fourth-round pick being this good over a few starts is apparently more special than your No. 15 overall pick from last year, whom your team invested significant resources in and hopes will be the quarterback of the future, doing it.
Fans are willing to overlook things like the fact Zappe has played two of the three worst defenses in the NFL or has no "big-time" throws down the field, according to Pro Football Focus, because he gave them hope they didn't expect to have when he trotted out onto the field against Green Bay.
People now scoff at the scouting reports they received about Zappe's erratic accuracy and less-than-stellar arm strength despite the fact that he clearly displayed those things in training camp for anyone who watched. (Zappe almost singlehandedly helped create the legend of Jack Jones in practice with all the interceptions he was tossing to the fellow fourth-round pick.)
Others even think the Patriots should ride with Zappe permanently or be prepared to bench Jones if he has a bad game -- not acknowledging that doing so means you'll need to trade Jones for a loss on your investment and give up on your first-round pick, who had one of the best rookie seasons ever for a quarterback, after two seasons. There's no "keep both and let them compete;" that's a headache neither the team nor either of them would want.
Then, what happens when Zappe starts to struggle as teams adjust to him, which is exactly what happened with Jones last season? You going to start pining for Garrett Gilbert or whatever rookie comes into the picture next season?
This isn't The Eagles' "New Kid in Town." This is the NFL. This is a business. When you make knee-jerk decisions after a few games, it tends to blow up in your face more often than not.
That's why the Patriots probably aren't foolhardy enough to set the Mac Jones pick on fire just because his backup has played well through a few games. He's not a veteran like Drew Bledsoe or Alex Smith where you've got enough years of data to know what he is and what he's worth to your team; he's a quarterback on a rookie contract who's had success in the league and should still get better.
(Jones also made four or five throws the last time he played that Zappe isn't close to being able to make, in case you forgot that amid the handwringing about the interceptions.)
If you want to keep riding the Zappe train, feel free. That's your affair. Just know the tracks have a nasty way of running out right over a canyon -- with a waterfall and sharp rocks at the bottom.
